Microdot Inc.

The Mather Company

James A Repella

A polytetrafluoroethylene seal is provided with surface effect vanes that effect hydrodynamic pumping of oil upon rotation of a shaft about which the seal is disposed.

Hydrodynamic seal

A method and apparatus for loading an array of articles into a front loading molding press. Two pairs of rails and two carriages are utilized to facilitate the various loading movements. The first or lower pair of rails is fixed and slidably mounts the first or lower carriage. The second or upper pair of rails is defined on the lower carriage and slidably mounts the upper carriage. A loading board is carried on the upper carriage and is mounted for up and down movement relative to the upper carriage. A predetermined array of loading heads are positioned on the underside of the loading board and a predetermined array of article holders are positioned between the forward portions of the lower pair of rails.

Press loading apparatus

An apparatus and method for loading a front loading molding press in which a loading board is pivoted at one edge on a horizontal pivot shaft which extends into a lower corner of the press opening adjacent one side of the mold in the press. Loading of the press is performed by loading the board with a predetermined array of articles to be molded while the board is in an upwardly pivoted oblique preloading position to one side of the press opening; thereafter pivoting the loaded board downwardly to a loading position directly in front of the press; thereafter sliding the board on the pivot shaft into the press opening to an unloading position directly overlying the mold; and thereafter discharging the articles downwardly onto the mold. The articles are held, transported, and discharged by loading heads which frictionally receive the articles during the preloading operation, frictionally retain the articles during their movement to the loading position and then to the unloading position, and discharge the articles onto the mold upon arrival of the board in the unloading position over the mold.

A workpiece holder module for handling annular seals comprising a retainer module, a motor positioned beneath the module and having a hollow drive shaft extending upwardly and drivingly into the bottom of the module, and an air supply structure including a hollow column fixedly and centrally positioned beneath the motor with its upper end rotatably and sealingly receiving the lower end of the hollow motor drive shaft. The retainer module includes an upwardly opening cup-shaped casing centrally receiving the upper end of the hollow motor drive shaft, a resilient retainer ring positioned on the upper annular edge of the casing sidewall, and a central plug member secured to the upper end of a central post portion upstanding from the base portion of the casing. The annular seal includes an outer metallic ring adapted to be frictionally retained within the resilient retainer ring and an inner elastomeric ring adapted to seat on the central plug member. The motor may be actuated to spin the retainer module and thereby the retained seal to facilitate a work operation on the seal, and pressurized air may be routed upwardly through the hollow column and through the hollow motor drive shaft where it acts against the bottom of an annular piston positioned around the central post of the casing to raise the piston and thereby upwardly eject the seal from the retainer module.

Workpiece holder

A method and apparatus for transferring workpieces to successive work devices. The apparatus comprises concentric turntables mounted for rotation about a common central axis. A series of work devices are mounted on the inner turntable and a series of workpiece holder devices are mounted on the outer turntable. The turntables are rotated in the same direction and in synchronism while the various work devices respectively perform work operations on the various workpieces held in the various workpiece holder devices, whereafter the inner turntable is accelerated and the outer turntable is decelerated until the various workpieces reach a position midway between successive work devices, whereafter the inner turntable is decelerated and the outer turntable is accelerated until the workpieces arrive at positions of alignment with the next successive work devices.

Transfer apparatus and method

A piston seal assembly comprises a seal element of relatively hard material to resist extrusion. The element is of serpentine configuration to facilitate radial expansion. Backup elements nest with the seal element to stabilize the element within a complementary piston groove.

Nested serpentine seal assembly

An oil seal element and method of manufacture thereof from polytetrafluoroethylene or the like. A tubular billet having concentric inner and outer cylindrical surfaces is provided with a frusto-conical end face. Arcuate slits of varying depth and angle are cut in the end face of the billet at each of a plurality of angularly spaced positions. Indexing of the billet is synchronized with rotation of the slitting tool. A disk of desired thickness having arcuate slits on one of its faces is then sliced from the billet, thereby also facing the billet for the next slitting sequence.

Hydrodynamic slitted seal and method of manufacture thereof

A polytetrafluoroethylene seal with intersecting arcuate slitted grooves to effect bi-directional hydrodynamic pumping of oil due to rotation of a shaft about which the seal is disposed.

Bi-directional hydrodynamic slitted seal

The disclosure relates to a method of manufacturing an oil seal element from polytetrafluoroethylene and the like. A tubular billet having concentric inner and outer cylindrical surfaces is faced off at one end. An arcuate slit is cut in the end face of the billet at each of a plurality of angularly spaced positions. Indexing of the billet is synchronized with rotation of the slitting tool. A disk of desired thickness having arcuate slits on one of its faces is then sliced from the billet, thereby also facing the billet for the next slitting sequence.

Method of making a polytetrafluoroethylene hydrodynamic seal

A lip seal comprising a uniformly thin wafer of adjacent radical concentric sections of polytetrafluoroethylene and an elastomer, which elastomer is attached to a rigid annular member for mounting the seal. The polytetrafluoroethylene annular lip sealing portion may be either on the inner or outer circumference of the washer-shaped annular seal, and the rigid annular supporting member may be of a plastic or metal which is bonded and/or clamped to the elastomeric annular portion. The polytetrafluoroethylene annular portion of the wafer seal may be slit, grooved and/or formed to improve its flexibility and/or sealing action. The combination polytetrafluoroethylene and elastomer wafers are formed by first fabricating a polytetrafluoroethylene tube or rod having a wall thickness corresponding at least to the radial thickness of the resulting washer, and then etching at least one of the cylindrical surfaces of this tube or rod to which the elastomer is next bonded in a mold. The resulting tube or rod of concentric bonded cylinders of elastomer and polytetrafluoroethylene is clamped at one end in a machine, such as a lathe, and the wafers or washers are knifed or slit off from the other end. If slits or grooves are to be cut into the polytetrafluoroethylene portion, such can be done in the same machine or lathe by another cutting tool prior to the slicing off of the washers.

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Berkley, MI, United States of America

James A Repella